Fraud Protection Tips: Protecting Your Identity & Online Security

FAKE SWEEPSTAKES, LOTTERIES AND OTHER SCAMS

(Updated March 18, 2014)

ALERT: “FAKE SWEEPSTAKES, LOTTERIES AND OTHER SCAMS”

Liberty Mutual has been made aware of a number of fraudulent letters which include a check written on fake Liberty Mutual Insurance check stock. These letters indicate individuals have won a lottery or sweepstakes; recipients are told that they can receive their winnings after paying a “non-residential tax” or some other fee to an undisclosed third party. The letter often urges the recipient to call an 800 telephone number to activate to the “claim” and send the “tax”. THESE ARE SCAMS AND THE LIBERTY MUTUAL CHECK IS FAKE!

If you receive one of these fake letters, checks or emails, we would strongly suggest you ignore the letter or email and DO NOT DEPOSIT THE CHECK.

We are also aware of emails that allege individuals can obtain personal loans from Liberty Mutual if they send funds via a Green Dot Moneypak to an undisclosed third party. Liberty Mutual is not in the personal loan business. These emails are a scam.

These fake letters, checks and emails are in NO WAY associated with Liberty Mutual Insurance Company or any other subsidiary of the Liberty Mutual Group, headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

Liberty Mutual In has been made aware of a number of fraudulent letters and checks which include a fraudulent check from “VIS *” in Hunt Valley, Maryland and written on fake Liberty Mutual Insurance check stock.

These fraudulent checks are accompanied by a letter on Scotiabank letterhead claiming to be “SPONSORED BY: Liberty Mutual.” Recipients are told that they have received a lump sum amount as part of a sweepstakes and to deposit the fraudulent Liberty Mutual check and then send a “non-residential Tax (Non-Canadian)” to an undisclosed third party. The letter urges the recipient to call an 800 telephone number activate the “claim” and send the “tax”.
THIS IS A SCAM AND THE LIBERTY MUTUAL CHECK IS FAKE!Please take notice that these fake letters and checks are in NO WAY associated with
Liberty Mutual Insurance Company or any other subsidiaries of the Liberty Mutual Group, headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

Please do not be fooled by these fake letters and checks! They are not from Liberty Mutual and are part of a known scam. Liberty Mutual
doesnotsponsor, promote or engaged in these types of sweepstakes. Our business is insurance, not sweepstakes.

If you receive one of these letters which include a fake Liberty Mutual check, we would strongly suggest you ignore the letter and
DO NOT DEPOSIT THE CHECK.

It has come to our attention that a fraudulent “mystery shopper” letter is being sent to individuals along with a fake Liberty Mutual check in the amount of $2,979.27 from "Easy Mystery Shopper Ltd." in New York.

Liberty Mutual Insurance Company DOES NOT sponsor, promote or engage in mystery shopper programs, international lotteries, or sweepstakes where a fee must be paid.

The letter and check are fraudulent and are part of an advance fee scam suspected of being run out of Canada. The letter states that you have been hired to participate in a mystery shopper program and that you must evaluate a money transfer service. A fake Liberty Mutual check is included in the mailing; you are instructed to deposit the check and then wire funds to an individual in another location.

The fake letter may resemble the copy shown below:

If you receive a letter or phone call related to this scam, DO NOT provide any personal information to these individuals, DO NOT attempt to deposit the check, and DO NOT send any money. If you have been the victim of this scam you should contact your local police department.

To report this type of fraudulent activity to Liberty Mutual you can email us at:
abuse@libertymutual.com.
Additional resources for spotting and reporting these types of frauds and scams may be found at:

It has come to our attention that a fraudulent sweepstakes letter is being sent to individuals along with a fake Liberty Mutual check in the amount of $5,100.49 from the "International Consumer Promotional Draw" in Las Vegas.

Liberty Mutual Insurance Company DOES NOT sponsor, promote or engage in international lotteries or sweepstakes where a fee must be paid.

The letter and check are fraudulent and are part of an advance fee scam suspected of being run out of Canada. The letter (with a header similar to that seen below) claims that you have won a sweepstakes and that you must contact "David Montgomery" in order to collect the prize. A
fake Liberty Mutual check is included in the mailing to cover "insurance and administrative fees".

These are NOT Liberty Mutual Group employees and are NOT Liberty Mutual phone numbers.

If you receive a letter or phone call related to this scam, we would recommend that you DO NOT provide any personal information to these individuals, DO NOT attempt to deposit the check, and DO NOT send any money. If you have been the victim of this scam you should contact your local police department.

It has come to our attention that a group of individuals are using the Liberty Mutual name in violation of Federal Trademark laws and may be part of an advance fee scam. These individuals falsely claim to be part of the Liberty Mutual Group in Boston, but they are in no way associated or affiliated with the Liberty Mutual Group. These individuals are contacting potential victims stating that a sweepstakes has been won and has not been collected and in order to collect the prize the victim must pay a fee.

The scammers are using these following names and phone numbers:

Daniel Hoffman (617-275-4941)

Wayne Russell (202-509-0673)

These are
NOT Liberty Mutual Group employees and are
NOT Liberty Mutual phone numbers.

Liberty Mutual does not sponsor, promote or engage in international lotteries or sweepstakes where a fee must be paid. If you receive a phone call regarding this type of scam, we would recommend that you
DONOT provide any personal information to the caller and
DONOT send any money. To report this type of fraudulent activity to Liberty Mutual you can email us at:
abuse@libertymutual.com.

Additional resources for reporting these types of frauds and scams may be found at:

The Liberty Mutual Group, in Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A., has been made aware of potentially fraudulent investment solicitations claiming to be from "Liberty Mutual Group" in
Tokyo, Japan which use a logo very similar to our trademark Statue of Liberty logo. A website associated with this potential investment fraud is located at:
www.Liberty-Mutual.jp (note the "hyphen" "-" between Liberty and Mutual).
Please take notice that these investment solicitations, forms and website are likely fraudulent and are
NOT associated with the Liberty Mutual Group (www.LibertyMutual.com )
or our any of foreign insurance companies.

These unsolicited letters and forms often require the recipient to provide personal financial and banking information in order to purchase certain securities or stocks. These forms use our Liberty Mutual Group name and a confusingly similar logo in an attempt to make the solicitation letters look official.If you receive one of these letters or emails which contain the logo or address indicated below we would strongly suggest you
ignore the letter and DO NOT complete or fax the forms.

​March 12, 2009 - Safeco Insurance Company (which is a member of the Liberty Mutual Group in Boston) has been made aware of a number of fraudulent lottery letters claiming to be from the “BC Million Dollar Lottery” and which include counterfeit Safeco checks.

These fraudulent letters claim that the recipients have won a lottery, and the letter is accompanied by an official looking Safeco check. These are counterfeit Safeco checks and should NOT be deposited or cashed. The lottery letters often require the recipient to call an international phone number and to submit personal and banking information.

Safeco does not sponsor, promote or engaged in lotteries. Our business is insurance, not lotteries.

If you receive one of these letters or counterfeit Safeco checks from the “BC Million Dollar Lottery” or other similar lottery, we strongly recommend that you NOT attempt to deposit or cash the check, and do not send any personal information or money to the Million Dollar Lottery.

Liberty Mutual has been made aware of a number of fraudulent letters and emails claiming to be from "Liberty Mutual Inc.," in Ontario Canada which illegally contain our name or logo as shown in the box below:

These fraudulent letters claim that the recipient has won a lottery and they are usually accompanied by an official looking check. These unsolicited letters and emails often require the recipient to call an international phone number and to submit personal and banking information to a "Tax Agent" in Canada.

Please take notice that these letters and emails are fraudulent and are not in any way associated with Liberty Mutual Insurance Company or any other subsidiaries of the Liberty Mutual Group, headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.

Please do not be fooled by these fake letters and emails! They are not from Liberty Mutual and are part of a known scam. Liberty Mutual does not sponsor, promote or engaged in lotteries. Our business is insurance, not lotteries.

If you receive one of these letters or emails from "Liberty Mutual Inc." in Ontario, Canada, we would strongly suggest you ignore the letter or email.

You may also contact Liberty Mutual at
abuse@LibertyMutual.com to report these fraudulent lottery letters and emails.

Additional resources for reporting these types of frauds and scams may be found at:

It has come to our attention that a company calling itself "Liberty Mutual Financial Services" is using the Liberty Mutual name in violation of federal trademark laws and may be part of a loan scam. The company claims to be located at 499 Park Avenue in New York City and advertises loans on the Internet using
www.LibertyMF.com and (866) 257-6175. The company also falsely claims to be part of the Liberty Mutual Group in Boston but it is in no way associated or affiliated with the Liberty Mutual Group.

Please take notice that any emails, letters or loan forms received from Liberty Mutual Financial Services may be part of an Advanced Fee Loan scam and you should first check the legitimacy of the company by contacting your local Better Business Bureau or your local consumer protection office. If you have been the victim of an advance fee loan scam, you should contact local law enforcement.

You may also contact Liberty Mutual at
abuse@LibertyMutual.com to report potentially fraudulent letters and emails received from Liberty Mutual Financial Services.

Additional resources for spotting and reporting these types of frauds and scams may be found at:

It has come to our attention that someone is illegally using our Liberty International name and Statue of Liberty logo as part of a lottery scam. The scam involves a letter from "Liberty Investments Inc., 346 11th Ave., Calgary, AB, CANADA, TR2 1L9" with the Liberty International name and logo on either side of the letter. These letters are addressed to "Dear Lucky Winner" and tell the recipient that they have won a large sum of money in an international lottery. The letters also include a check made out to the "winner" with instructions to deposit or cash the check and then to send some of the money to a Western Union address in Halifax, Canada as part of a tax payment. These letters also provide a cell phone number (1-778-318-6211) to call in order to claim the prize.

Please take notice that these letters and checks are fraudulent and in no way associated with Liberty International or its parent company, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company. Liberty International is part of our international insurance operations and does not conduct lotteries. If you receive a letter like the one described above,
YOU SHOULD NOT RESPOND.

If you are a Liberty International or Liberty Mutual customer, you should bring this to the attention of our Presidential Service Team by contacting
abuse@Libertymutual.com.

Additional resources for spotting and reporting these types of frauds and scams may be found at:

Liberty Mutual has been made aware of a number of letters and emails claiming to be from our insurance subsidiary Liberty Seguros in Madrid, SPAIN and which claim that the recipient has won a lottery.

Please take notice that these letters and emails are fraudulent and are not in any way associated with Liberty Mutual or our foreign insurance company Liberty Seguros which does business in Spain and Portugal.

These unsolicited letters and emails often require the recipient to call an international phone number and submit personal and banking information on a “Payment Processing Form” and fax the form back to Spain. These form uses our legitimate Liberty Mutual or Liberty Seguros logos and trademarks in an attempt to make the letters and emails look official.

Please do not be fooled by these fake letters and emails! They are not from either Liberty Mutual or Liberty Seguros and are part of a known scam. Neither Liberty Mutual nor Liberty Seguros sponsor, promote or engaged in lotteries. Our business is insurance, not lotteries.

If you receive one of these letters or emails which contain our names or logos, we would strongly suggest you ignore the letter or email.

You may also contact Liberty Mutual at
abuse@LibertyMutual.com to report these fraudulent lottery letters and emails.

Additional resources spotting and reporting these types of frauds and scams may be found at:

Recently there have been a number of news stories and reports regarding fraudulent emails, fake checks, lottery scams, identity theft and “phishing” scams (fraudulent but official looking e-mails and websites used to gather personal information and passwords). Liberty Mutual Insurance takes your privacy and online security very seriously and we will never email you a request for your personal passwords, personal information numbers (“PIN”) or login information. We do occasionally send our customers information and updates about our insurance products, however, if you receive any suspicious e-mails or phone calls which request your personal information and claim to be from Liberty Mutual, you should review them carefully and if you are unsure of their authenticity, you should contact us at: abuse@libertymutual.com

The U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) has posted “Common Fraud Schemes” on its website (https://www.fbi.gov/scams-safety/fraud). If you receive a suspicious email or letter, along with a check or money order, you should Stop, Look, and Call.

Stop. Scammers typically include upsetting or exciting (but false) statements in their letters or e-mails with one purpose in mind: They want people to react immediately to that false information by either depositing a fake check, clicking on a link, or inputting the requested data before they take time to think through what they are doing. Consumers, however, need to resist that impulse to act or click immediately. No matter how upsetting or exciting the statements in the letter or email may be, there is always enough time to check out the information more closely.

Look. Consumers should look more closely at the claims made in the letter or e-mail, think about whether those claims make sense, and be highly suspicious if the letter or e-mail asks for numerous items of their personal information such as account numbers, usernames, or passwords.

Call. To be sure that they are contacting the real company or institution where they have accounts, credit-card account holders can call the toll-free customer numbers on the backs of their cards, and bank customers can call the telephone numbers on their bank statements

Preventing Online Identity TheftHere are some additional tips and resources that Liberty Mutual recommends to help prevent becoming a victim of online identity theft.

Take these important steps today to protect your name, credit and reputation:

REVIEW YOUR CREDIT REPORT from each of the three credit agencies listed below twice a year. See if there are accounts or addresses you don’t recognize. Is your social security number correct? Have there been more credit inquiries than normal? Any of these may be early signs of identity theft. If you find something suspicious on your credit report, call the agency’s fraud hotline immediately. You also may want to add a consumer fraud alert, which asks creditors to telephone you each time a new account is opened in your name.

LIMIT THE USE OF YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER. Provide your social security number only when necessary and never provide it in response to an unsolicited email. Don’t carry the card in your wallet and never print it on your checks.

DON’T USE YOUR MOTHER’S MAIDEN NAME as a password on personal accounts; it’s too easy to learn. Change it to another word with the creditors. When creating a password, include letters, numbers and symbols (for example: E$G%2Q) since they are more difficult for identity thieves to guess.

DON’T GIVE OUT FINANCIAL INFORMATION ONLINE OR ON THE PHONE – unless you initiated the contact and you know the party you are dealing with.

PROTECT YOUR ONLINE LOG-INS AND PASSWORDS – Don’t share your passwords or login names and avoid leaving or writing them down near or around your computer. Protect them as you do your ATM and credit card numbers.